Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mit-eddie!ll-xn!singer
From: singer@XN.LL.MIT.EDU (Matthew R. Singer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Atari warranty estimates are EXTREMELY accurate
Message-ID: <988@xn.LL.MIT.EDU>
Date: 4 May 88 14:43:25 GMT
References: <19880504130143.5.CRAWLEY@FLIGHTLESS-WATERFOWL.SCRC.Symbolics.COM>
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA
Lines: 33
Summary: Atari Hard Disks

In article <19880504130143.5.CRAWLEY@FLIGHTLESS-WATERFOWL.SCRC.Symbolics.COM>, Crawley@ALDERAAN.SCRC.SYMBOLICS.COM (Eric S. Crawley) writes:
> [I'm not one to send messages like this but this irritates me so that I
> thought I should share it and possibly warn others.]
> 
> Exactly 92 days after purchasing my SH204 hard disk, it failed to spin
> up.   Of course, the 90 day Atari warranty had just expired along with
> my drive.  The drive would start to spin up and then a relay would click
> in and spin it down.  As usual with this kind of failure, it came at the
> most inappropriate time.  My wife had just put the final edits on
> several long papers earlier in the day and I was planning to do a backup
> after she printed them out.  So now I'm stuck with a dead SH204 that the
> repair shop says they might be able to save, the repair bill that
> follows, and a frantic wife.
> 
> Regardless of whether I get the data off the SH204 or not, I'm getting
> rid of it and buying a Supra 20MB drive.  At least it is smaller and
> quieter.  Hopefully, it will be more reliable.  I still like my ST, I
> just don't have any faith in Atari hard disks anymore.


As much as I love to rant and rave about Atari's poor QC and complete/total
lack of support (not to mention vaporware), you really can't blame this
one on them.  I too had an SH204 die (although after a year, not 90 
days), but you have to remember that for the hard disk, Atari just
buys someone elses and sticks it in their case.  The only thing they
really make is the DMA line interface.  

Just out of curiousity, my SH204 had an NEC drive in it. What did yours?
Since we know Atari didn't single source it...


M. Singer
Commnet Systems